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HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP HIGHLIGHTS ABUSE BY VANUATU AUTHORITIES

Submitted by admin on Mon, 01/03/2000 - 00:00

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (January 1, 2000 – Radio Australia)---The Human Rights group Amnesty International, in a 1999 yearend report, says that dozens of people were ill-treated by police and military officers in Vanuatu, during mass arrests under a four-week state of emergency last January.

The state of emergency was declared after widespread rioting and looting in the capital, Port Vila, prompted by an Ombudsman’s report on corruption by officials.

Amnesty International says dozens of people said they were kicked and beaten by military and police officers during the arrest of some 500 criminal suspects.

As a result of investigations, 18 police officers were charged with intentional assault of prisoners.

All have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which have yet to be heard.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.